Newcomer Akhil Kapur, who is the nephew of Vinod Khanna, says he watched his uncle’s 1987 revenge drama ‘Dayavan’ to prepare for his intense role in his debut.

Akhil is playing one of the male leads in filmmaker Anand Kumar’s ‘Desi Kattey’, which also stars Suniel Shetty, Jay Bhanushali and Tia Najpai.

“I am playing a grey-shaded role in ‘Desi Kattey’. Action and the intense role are the two things in the film that attract me the most. My character Pali is a small town boy who has grown up making guns. He wants to be a known and famous gangster of the town.”To play the character, I have watched my uncle’s ‘Dayavan’ and Sanjay Dutt’s ‘Vaastav’ for my film. Both the roles are somewhat similar to my character. Vinod mama (uncle) has always been my biggest inspiration and like a father figure to me,” Akhil told PTI.

Born and raised in Dubai, Akhil, 29, studied filmmaking from New York and also assisted director Reema Kagti on ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd’.

Akhil got the opportunity to star in ‘Desi Kattey’ two years ago when he met Anand in a party. But the director actually offered him some other film.

“I met Anand two years ago during a party for ‘Zila Ghaziabad’. He liked me and told me about his two films. One was a romantic love story and the other was ‘Desi Kattey’. He initially thought that I would be good for the romantic film but while narrating the script of ‘Desi Kattey’ he felt that I was best suited for character of Pali,” he said.

The crime drama will hit theatres on August 29 and the trailer of the film has so far garnered positive response.
The newbie actor has a passion for martial arts and wants to do an out-an-out action film to showcase his talent.

“I always wanted to be an actor. I mostly want to do action films. I want to do an action film and have been approached by a filmmaker too. I am in talks with him and hopefully if everything goes well I will be a part of the project which will change the face of action in the industry,” Akhil said.